Friday, April 9, 2010

Designing Women

Today I am joining Cindy at My Romantic Home for her weekly Friday Show and Tell. My educational background is in Interior Design and Art History. While I love cottage style for myself, I love to create spaces in other styles as well. Here are a few shots from my Mom's house. Fourteen years ago, Mom and Daddy moved to Boise, Idaho to live near us. I found a home for them on a small lake and while the setting was fabulous the house was basic and boring. My Mom's style is traditional and a bit formal. We added crown moldings, chair rails and shadow boxes to add more architectural interest. I added a few shadow boxes above the mantel as well to highlight her art. Mom tends to like to arrange in pairs, while I prefer groups of three, but it's her house, so I bow to her wishes.

When you move from a huge tudor built in the 1920's to a 1970's ranch, it's a challenge to use existing pieces. Mom loved this screen and did not want to part with it, so we put it in a corner as a back drop to this vintage Hepplewhite drop leaf table. Mom loves a bit of Asian influence and since my Daddy's career took him all over the world, the influence is eclectic.

There is no grand entry hall in this house, so we angled the grandfather clock in the corner.

The sconces next to my portrait were purchased at an estate sale my father attended on a trip to Rome. That bombe chest is a favorite of Mom. That stack of books is actually hollowed out and opens to display a cordial set.

I have shown this shot on my blog before. It's a corner of the solarium that Daddy designed and my husband built. The views out to the lake are fabulous and I will be taking more shots soon when all of the flowering trees are in bloom. If the weather warms up a bit, I may be able to do that in a couple of days.

I painted this chair an antique white. It was previously stained a dark walnut. Daddy used to use it as a desk chair, but now it has a new home in a corner of the solarium.

This is not the best shot, but you can get an idea of the lovely view out to the lake. There are lots of ducks, geese and herons too. Little boys who live near are always out with nets and buckets catching tadpoles.

Mom and I are always tweaking things in her house, so the next time I show you pictures, it may look quite different. I just spent yesterday re-arranging furniture and accessories in her guest room. I'll do a post about that as well. Until next time, thanks for visiting my Mom's home. Don't forget to stop by and visit Cindy and all of the other Show and Tell participants!

Your mom's house is just beautiful Susan! You did a fantastic job. I know what you mean about decorating a ranch style home to be traditional. I really love that chair you painted would love to see more pics of the solarium. I love the protrait of you in your riding gear. What a lucky girl!

That looks like a lovely home. I love the idea of a solarium -- sounds more elegant than "sun porch."Thank you for your lovely comment on my blog today. I hope it shows up -- I had difficulty moderating it and kept getting an error code. I appreciate your thoughtfulness.

It looks lovely, and my favourite is that white chair. I think it would be fun to decorate in other styles for other people! Although it would be hard to take their wishes into consideration too! Janice